Product Details

• Actors: Paris Chong, Shelby Chong, Peter Coyote, Jay Leno, Bill Maher
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Infinity Ent
• DVD Release Date: August 26, 2008
• Run Time: 80 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0015SYPDE
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,221 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #25 in

  Movies & TV > Documentary > Military & War > Civil War

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

a/k/a Tommy Chong chronicles the entrapment and incarceration of comedy icon Tommy Chong of the legendary comedy duo, Cheech and Chong. Josh Gilbert takes on the event in his documentary, and offers a sometimes frightening, often hilarious account of Operation Pipe Dreams, a nationwide drug paraphernalia sting spearheaded by a federal prosecutor named Mary Beth Buchanan, appointed by George Bush three short days after the attacks of 9/11. After fully armed SWAT teams raided the comedian's home and his business, Chong Glass, Chong was sentenced to 9 months in federal prison for "conspiracy to manufacture and distribute drug paraphernalia through his family business, specializing in handmade glass water pipes, or "bongs". The film provides a charming portrait of a counter culture icon set against the backdrop of a War on Drugs gone horribly awry.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tommy Chong as a Counterculture Martyr, July 23, 2009

By	stoic (Mobile AL) - See all my reviews

A/K/A Tommy Chong is an interesting look at the doper comedian's legal troubles in the early 2000s. For those who don't remember, the U.S. Government arrested Chong because he sold bongs over the Internet. Filmmaker Josh Gilbert follows Chong to prison (where he served nine months) and covers his life after his release.

There is a lot to like in this film. The film recounts Chong's life story and he is an interesting character; he grew up half-Chinese, half-Caucasian in 1950s Canada. Chong also played guitar as a member of the 1960s rock band the Vancouvers, for whom he wrote a top-40 hit ("Does Your Mama Know About Me").

The film does a good job of recounting Chong's initial meeting with Cheech Marin and the beginnings of their career as "Cheech and Chong." I did not think that the film did a particularly good job of explaining Cheech's decision to disband Cheech and Chong. The only interviews with Cheech are archival and Cheech's absence is obvious throughout A/K/A Tommy Chong.

The presentation of Chong's drug case is more "hit and miss." Viewers likely will be fascinated at the steps to which the Feds went to bust Chong. (According to Chong, his company did not ship bongs to Pennsylvania because his employees knew that it was illegal; the film details the contrivances the Feds used to get Chong to ship the bongs that ultimately landed him in prison to Pennsylvania). It is difficult to believe that the U.S. Government spent over $12 million to put Chong in jail. While one may question whether there was a vendetta against Chong, it is revealing that he was the lone defendant without a prison record (of 55 charged) to serve jail time.

Other aspects of the film are not as interesting. Many of the peripheral characters in Chong's life appear in the film, but contribute little. Chong's wife Shelby comes off as his Yoko Ono - an untalented schemer who got her husband to put her on stage. Chong's cellmate and his son (Paris) both appear in segments that should have been cut. There is a boring series of interviews in which people explain how easy it is to make a bong.

The film "stacks the deck" in Tommy's favor, so you might wonder if there is another side to the story. The Government officials who prosecuted Chong are all but accused of fascism. (Filmmaker Gilbert takes a cheap shot in noting that prosecutor Mary Beth Buchanan grew up in "an all-white town," as though that alone is sufficient to reveal her dastardly plans). Gilbert also includes interviews with self-aggrandizing celebrities such as Jay Leno, Bill Maher, and journalist Eric Schlosser.

In the end, despite its shortcomings, A/K/A Tommy Chong is well worth a look. Chong recounts toward the end of the film that many people ask him what prison life is like. Chong said that he replies, "You'll find out." That line made me think. Whatever your politics, the film will force you to consider what role the U.S. Government should play in regulating drugs and punishing those who break drug laws. (Perhaps this is the first Tommy Chong film that ever forced anyone to think). As to whether Tommy is a martyr, a stoner who pushed the Government "over the line," or a little of both, viewers will have to judge for themselves.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!, February 27, 2009

By	Uncle Elmer "tod3" (USA) - See all my reviews

Tommy Chong's drug story is a sad tale told over and over again in our society where someone who is basically harmless and goofy is made an example of by a repressive segment that simply resents his lifestyle. The citizenry did not benefit from this prosecution one bit and, in fact, a lot of money was wasted.

Sure, let's prosecute scum like the late Pablo Escobar or some low life like that but these pointless foolish celebrity cases of an entertaining doofus who likes bongs are utterly meaningless.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great film, February 4, 2009

By	David Baugnon (Bronxville, New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The best documentaries tell a compelling and a surprising story and that is exactly what you get with AKA Tommy Chong. The Comedy of Errors that has been the Bush administration are taken to new heights as they single out one benign member of the counter culture movement to be taken down by all means necessary. Funny, outrageous and all shockingly true. My hats off to the filmmaker- a must see in my opinion.